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Problem Gambling

In today’s fast paced world, governed by technology and the internet, it is easy to get pretty much anything anytime. Not got round to buying your Christmas presents? Don’t worry, you can buy them all online. Simply go to a well known retailer, type, ‘gifts for 7 yr old boys’ and there you have it: a list of appropriate presents, many of which can even be delivered the next working day. Want to go on holiday, but have a budget limit of €500 – well just head to google and type ‘budget holidays’ – and you’ll get a list of holiday suppliers targeted to your needs. Need some grocery shopping, but don’t have time to go to the supermarket? Well, just order online and get a shop delivered to your door.

This modern-day new-fangled technology is a fabulous thing in so many respects as it facilitates so many businesses and methods for making peoples lives easier.

But there is a downside. Overeaters and alcoholics, for example, can simply order more and more food or booze online, without even having to take the exercise of going to the shop to make the purchases.

When it comes to vices and addictions, the internet can act as an ‘enabler’, where there are precious few checks and balances to curb peoples addictions.

Another of those societal addictions in modern society, is online gambling.

Sure, there are ‘checks and balances’ in place to prevent people gambling too much at once, or on one day, for example, but the gambler has to set those checks and balances up themselves, for the most part. And it is very unlikely that a gambler with an addiction is going to set these up is it, as that would be to admit, in some way, that they had a problem.

This website is here to help those people; the ones with addictions who don’t even realize that they have a problem. People who are no longer master of their gambling activities, people who have become slaves to the leisure activity: people who are addicted to it.

If you are not sure whether you have a problem, first we suggest that you visit a website to help you understand whether you have a problem or not. The NHS Problem Gambling page is one such page which provides questions to help you ascertain whether you have a problem or not. The quiz will give you an idea as to whether you have a problem, how big that problem is, and where to get professional help. Remember, when you take this test asking about all aspects of your gambling habit, DON’T LIE. You are asking these questions of yourself, and telling the answers only to yourself. Don’t lie to yourself – lying to others is one thing, but lying to yourself is really a waste of your time. Answer the questions honestly or don’t bother to answer them at all.

There’s nothing wrong with having an addiction. We are all human and we are all subject to our ‘free will’ getting a little too ‘free’! We all get pulled in by the thrill of doing something that we know in our hearts isn’t good for us.

But the problem lies in not being able to know when to stop or to pull back: when something that started off as ‘fun’ becomes dangerous, debilitating, negative and destructive to other areas of our lives.

On this website you will find some example stories of people who have been adversely affected by their gambling. Testimonials from people who are reported to have a problem, according to their friends and family, but who are convinced that they do not have a problem. And, of course, stories from people who recognized that they had a problem habit, and sought help for it. People who have been ‘rehabilitated’. Have a good read of all of their stories. See where you fit in on the scale of denial or innocence.

Right across Europe, the problems with gambling are being felt, in France, there are reported to be over 600,000 gamblers now according to an article in the pshychologies online magazine.

In Austria, there are also many gamblers. According to a study done back in February 2011, around 64,000 people in Austria display pathological gambling behavior… and that was of course 7 years ago. Whilst there are currently attempts to amend the regulations appertaining to online sports betting, to make it into a ‘game of chance’, (according to an article in the national newspaper the Salzburger Nachrichten back at the end of December 2017) it is not enough to curb the current popularity of online gambling and online casinos in Austria. Right across Europe, however you look at it; gambling in a betting shop or gambling in a casino or gambling online, the statistics show that it is an ever increasing problem across the various countries of Europe and that is one of the reasons why we are here. If you are looking to put a stop to your online gambling – there are thousands of resources out there that can help you, just like this one here.